TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch attributed the growing ridership in part to gas prices still hovering around $4 a gallon and the Portland region’s job market revving up.“It is certainly a sign of more people working, especially with WES being commuter and worker focused,” Fetsch said. “It’s good that bus (ridership) is picking up. With all modes up, we may be seeing the economy really turning around.”(Ya right Mary, sure)

As we can see in graph 1, bus+max ridership are both up the same % of riders.
The ministry of propaganda on the other hand, presents the stats to the public as MAX&WES as being double digit increases and bus as a decrease!It borders on fraud as far as I am concerned.

$6.6 Billion Shipped to Iraq Alleged Stolen; Possibly "Largest Theft of Funds in National History"Federal auditors now believe as much as $6.6 billion earmarked for Iraq might have been stolen in the early years of the Iraq war in what is now being described as possibly "the largest theft of funds in national history." Between 2003 and 2004, the United States shipped $12 billion in cash to Iraq in what was the biggest international cash airlift of all time. For years, the Pentagon has been unable to account for where more than half the money went. The Los Angeles Times reports Iraqi officials are now threatening to go to court to reclaim the money, which came from Iraqi oil sales, seized Iraqi assets and surplus funds from the United Nations’ oil-for-food program.Soaring Costs of U.S. Involvement in Libya Set to Exceed $750 MillionA leaked Pentagon memo has revealed the cost of the U.S. military involvement in Libya is soaring and is set to soon exceed the Pentagon’s initial estimate of $750 million. In other Libya news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether Goldman Sachs and some other financial companies violated bribery laws in dealings with Libya’s sovereign-wealth fund.